Arrest warrants for Gaddafi and others welcomed

Arrest warrants for Gaddafi and others welcomed

By agency reporter

27 Jun 2011

Amnesty International has welcomed the issue of writs against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and other senior Libyan government figures. The men must be arrested and handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face trial for alleged serious human rights crimes, Amnesty said today (27 June 2011).

ICC judges have approved warrants for the arrest of Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi and military intelligence chief Abdallah al-Sanussi for alleged crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution.

Gaddafi is accused of ordering a wave of killings and enforced disappearances of suspected critics of the government after protests against his rule began in February in Benghazi, inspired by mass protests across the Middle East and North Africa.

When ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested the arrest warrants in mid-May, he alleged that the three suspects had committed widespread and systematic attacks against civilians.

Amnesty says its research in Libya has repeatedly pointed to evidence of possible crimes against humanity and war crimes. These include a pattern of repeated and widespread indiscriminate attacks by al-Gaddafi forces on residential areas in Misratah, using "Grad" rockets, mortars and cluster bombs.

Amnesty International Law and Policy Director Michael Bochenek said:“Justice must be delivered to the victims of serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law committed in Libya during and following the brutal repression of pro-reform protests earlier this year.

“Al-Gaddafi and others who are accused of orchestrating this bloody crackdown must be held to account.

“A failure to arrest and prosecute the accused men would send a disturbing message that such crimes can continue to be committed with impunity.

“No one should be allowed to evade international justice.”

All UN member states are obliged to deny safe haven to those accused of crimes under international law. This is the second time that an ICC arrest warrant has been issued for a sitting head of state - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has faced arrest since 2009 on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.